Improved instrument for opening tin cans



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEe JOHN WILLARD, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED INSTRUMENT FOR OPENING TIN CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57.422, dated August Q1, 1866.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN WILLARD, o Norwich, New London county, State of Connectieut, have invented a new and useful Instrument for Opening Tin Cans; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

, and efficient instrument for opening tin cans which have been hermetically sealed for preserving their contents from decomposition.

The invention consists in providing a knifeblade, of a suitable form which will penetrate thin metal, with a shoulder or fulcrum projecting from each side of the blade so as to form bearin gs on each side of the opening that is made through the can, thus `admitting of the metal beingcut by vibrating the knife, and at the same time advancing it, as will be fully understood by the following description.

1n the accompanyingr drawings, A represents the handle of the knife, which may be Y made of any desired length and width. This handle terminates at one end in a short pointed knife, B, which is in a plane at right angles to the plane of the handle. The lower edge, e, of the blade B may curve upward, and the upper cutting edge, a', may project above the plane of the top or upper liat surface of the handle, so as to present an edge which is considerably inclined to the metal during the operation of cutting it.

rlhe rear end of the blade B terminates in two right-angle shoulders, b I), which are the fulcra or supports of the instrument upon the can during the operation of cutting, which operation is represented in Fig. 2.

An opening is first made through the top of the can C by means of the point of the blade B, and this blade forced into the can nearly ina vertical position. This will bring the shoulders b b upon the top surface ofthe can, so that these shoulders will serve as a fulcrum when the handle of the knife is depressed', and cause the cutting-edge e' of the blade B to make a slit through the can top. The instrument is then advanced and the handle depressed again, and so on until a piece is cut out of the top of the can and its contents thus exposed.

The shoulders b b not only serve as the support for the instrument upon the can, but these shoulders also press the edges of the metal down as the instrument is moved up to its Work. v

Having thus described myinvention, I claigi as a new and improved article of manufacture- The can-opener, constructed of one piece of metal, with a blade, B, transverse shoulders b b, and a handle, as herein specified and shown.

JOHN WILLARD.

Witnesses:

H. H. STARKWEATHEE, VTIMOTHY PARKER. 

